The Ways of Badassery
by agroxneko
Summary: Sequel to Bro's Got Each Other's Back. When inviting Santana to their bro's night doesn't work, Puck decides the only to help Rachel get Santana to love her back is to get her to show her badass side more.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: **I've finally decided to make a sequel to my oneshot, bro's got each other's back. At first it was going to be a one-shot too, but I've decided to make it a multi-chapter fic. Just like the oneshot, it's set in the beginning of season 3, so there's no Sam but Karofsky never transferred out, and Finn and Rachel aren't together.

* * *

It was Monday, and Rachel was the first one to wake up. She opened her eyes and blushed when she realized she was in Santana's arms. She looked up and smiled at Santana, seeing the peaceful look on her face. She pulled herself out of Santana's arms without waking the other girl and got out of bed.

She looked at her clothes, realizing she was still in the clothes she vandalized the school in. Quietly, she grabbed her bag and walked into the bathroom. After showering and changing, she walked out and looked at the time.

It was still early, and Puck and Santana were probably still asleep. She walked into the kitchen, passing Puck passed out on the couch as she did so. She started making breakfast and after a few minutes she heard someone walking in.

"That smells good." She looked over to see Puck walking in and she grinned.

"Good morning, Noah." Puck walked over to her and put his arm around her shoulder.

"Morning, and I think yesterday was a success." Rachel bit her lip and looked down at the pancakes she was making.

"I don't know, Santana will probably forget everything and it'll be just like before." Puck frowned.

"Hey, cheer up." He said and Rachel smiled sadly. Puck moved his arm off her and stretched.

"Well, I'm gonna get ready and wake up Lopez." Rachel nodded and Puck left. After another few minutes Rachel was done and she sat at the table, waiting for Santana and Puck.

She sighed and put her head on the table and closed her eyes. In the beginning she hadn't believed what Puck did, but by the end of the night Rachel was glad Puck brought Santana to their bro's night. She had hoped the two of them were closer now, and the thought of that made Rachel incredibly happy.

It was the one thing she wanted, to get closer to Santana. Well, technically it was the second only thing she wanted, the first being for Santana to reciprocate her feelings.

"Still tired, Berry?" Rachel jumjped and stood up straight, seeing Santana in the doorway looking at Rachel with an amused look. Rachel blushed and looked down.

"No, I was just, um, thinking." Santana raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything. She looked over to where the pancakes were and pointed to them.

"That for us?" Rachel looked over and nodded.

"Oh, yes, I made htose for the three of us." Santana nodded and walked over and served herself. She walked back to the table and as soon as she sat down, she took a bite.

"Hey, these are pretty good." Rachel smiled.

"Thanks." Just then, Puck walked in and greedily took some pancakes before joining Rachel and Santana at the table. He grinned as he took a bite and looked at Santana.

"My bro can cook, right?" Santana scoffed and rolled her eyes.

"Whatever." Rachel sighed and got up to grab the remainder of the pancakes. The rest of the morning they ate until it was time to go to school and Puck drove them there. The ride was pretty much silent and once Puck parked the car, Santana got out and went inside. Rachel and Puck stayed in the car and watched Santana go.

"She probably doesn't want to be seen with me," Rachel said softly and looked down. "I don't blame her, I mean, look at me. Even you don't want to be seen with me at school."

"That's not true," Puck said quickly. "It's just-"

"No, it's fine, I get it," Rachel said, interrupting him. "I'll see you after school." With that, Rachel got out of the car, leaving Puck in it, frowning.

Santana was at her locker, putting away her books, as she thought about last night with Rachel and Puck. Rachel had definitely surprised her that night, and even though they got along, Santana still didn't want to be seen with Rachel.

She closed her locker and started walking down the hallway, and saw Rachel against the lockers. She frowned when she realized Rachel was standing there, waiting for something. Rachel looked over and saw Santana staring. She gave her a grin and motioned down the hall with her head.

Santana looked over, realizing that the room not so far down the hall was Sue's office. Her eyes widened when she remembered what Rachel had done to Sue's office. She looked farther down the hall, seeing Sue walking with a protein shake.

It was as if time was going slow, and Santana watched as Sue reached her office and walked in. It was only seconds after that she heard an ear-splitting scream and every student stopped in their tracks. She rushed out of the room, angrier than she had ever seen her. A few students that were near her office jumped away in fear.

"Whoever did that will pay!" She yelled angrily through the hall and Santana turned to Rachel, who hadn't cared about Sue's threat. Instead, she was grinning and trying, and failing, to hold in her laugh. Santana looked back at Sue, who was storming down the hall and every student was jumping out of her way.

Santana looked back to where Rachel was, only to find her gone. She looked around, but didn't see the short brunette in sight. Sighing, she went back to walking away, like the rest of the students started doing.

* * *

"Did you hear what happened to Coach?" Rachel heard a few cheerleaders behind her talking and she grinned a little. Ever since school started, everyone had been talking about her prank on Sue. It was a shame she couldn't brag about it, or else everyone would know it was her.

"So, how was her reaction?" Rachel looked to the seat next to her and saw Puck leaning towards her, grinning.

"Priceless," Rachel said, grinning back at him. "How was Karofsky?"

"He looked so pretty in glitter." Puck said, laughing and Rachel could only imagine Karofsky freaking out about the glitter. Just then the bell rang and class started. Once class ended they walked out and went their separate ways. For the rest of the day, everyone kept talking about Sue, Karofsky, and the suddenly red pool. When Rachel saw Karofsky in the hall, she saw some of the glitter he missed and she turned her head and tried to hold in her laugh.

Unfortunately, Santana had yet to talk to her again either, even in the classes they shared. Rachel knew she should have expected that, one night wasn't going to change everything between them, but she still felt a little heartbroken over it. Despite it being one night, Rachel though they made a lot of progress.

During lunch, she was thinking about their night together when she felt someone tap her shoulder. She looked over to see Kurt looking at her worriedly.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

"Yeah, why?" Rachel asked and Kurt shrugged.

"You're quieter than usual," Suddenly, Kurt's eyes widened and he groaned. "This doesn't have to do with Finn, right?"

"No," Rachel said quickly. "This has nothing to do with Finn." She looked over at Santana, who w as talking with the other Cheerios, before looking down at her food again.

"You sure? Because it's around the time where you two get back together and-"

"It has nothing to do with him," Rachel snapped loudly, making all the other members of New Direction look at her. "I have to go." Rachel said, standing up. She walked away from the table, throwing out her food as she did so, suddenly not hungry.

She sighed and decided to spend the rest of her lunch period in the library, away from Kurt and the rest of the Glee Club. She walked in and spotted Puck sitting at the tables, reading a textbook. She walked over to him and looked over his shoulder to see him hiding a comic book in a text book.

"Really, Noah?" Puck looked up and grinned at her.

"Hey there, mastermind." Rachel laughed and shook her head as she took a seat next to Puck.

"I'm not that much of a mastermind."

"Hell yeah you are, and the best part? No one knows it," Puck said, gesturing to Rachel's clothes she always wore at school. "So, how's you and Santana?" Rachel frowned and looked down.

"I don't think the bro's night we shared with her meant anything to her." Rachel said softly and Puck frowned.

"What?" He said loudly and a librarian made as shushing noise at him. Once the librarian looked away he spoke to Rachel again. "Why? I totally thought that would work." Puck said softly and Rachel shrugged.

"It didn't, and I don't care anyway so it's fine." Rachel mumbled.

"You are so lying," Puck said. "You have the biggest crush on Santana ever, of course you care," Rachel blushed and sank lower in her seat. "I'll have to think of something else." Rachel sighed.

"Please don't." She said and Puck looked at her.

"Hell no, you're getting your girl." Rachel rolled her eyes but didn't say anything. When the bell rang they went to their classes, but nothing eventful happened the rest of the day, and Santana still ignored Rachel. The last bell rang and Rachel was at her locker when Puck walked up to her, grinning.

"I got it." He said.

"Oh?"

"Why don't you show your badassness to her?" Puck said and Rachel sighed as she closed her locker.

"I already did, last night." Puck nodded.

"But I'm talking here, at school?" Puck said and Rachel quickly shook her head.

"No, that won't work." Puck frowned.

"Why?"

"Because I'm a loser, no one likes me." Rachel said and Puck sighed.

"I like you, and that's just cuz they don't know how badass you are." Rachel bit her lip and looked down.

"I don't know…"

"It's just an idea," Puck said. "You don't have to do it."

"Thanks for trying, Noah." Rachel said, looking up at him and Puck.

"No problem," He said. "I'm going to practice, wanna walk with me?" Rachel nodded and walked to the locker room with him. Once he walked in she decided to walk to the football field, where the Cheerios were already practicing.

"Hurry it up, you lazy excuse of cheerleaders!" Rachel frowned at the harshness of Sue's tone and watched the way the Cheerios were worked harder than before. She walked to the bleachers and watched. Finally, after a good few hours, Sue let them take a break. Santana walked over and groaned when she saw Rachel. She walked to her bag, where Rachel was sitting by, and grabbed her water.

"hey," Rachel said, but Santana ignored her again. She frowned and looked down at her hands. She looked back up at Santana after a few seconds, seeing her standing and trying to even out her breathing. "Coach Sylvester is working you guys really hard." Rachel said softly and Santana suddenly turned to her.

"And I wonder whose fault that is." She said angrily and Rachel leaned back a little.

"What do you mean?" Rachel asked, and Santana groaned and glared at her.

"Because of what _you_ did to her desk, she's making us work to death," Santana spat. "Good one, RuPaul." Santana drank some more water and Rachel felt guilty.

"I'm sorry, I just," Rachel stopped and took a deep breath. "I just thought were had a good time with each other last night."

"Did we? I forgot about it." Santana said and the words were like a slap in the face to Rachel. Before she could say anything else, Sue's voice was heard through the speaker.

"Alright you lazy excuses, back to work" Slowly, the Cheerios walked back to the field, and Santana scowled.

"What kind of break was that?" She grumbled before throwing her water bottle down and walking to Brittany, who was still catching her breath, and leading the both of them to the field. Rachel watched Santana go, feeling guilty. Making things worse for Santana was the last thing she wanted.

Making up her mind, she stood up and walked to the field, past Santana and to Sue. Sue ignored her while the rest of the Cheerios looked at her with wide eyes, including Santana.

"Coach Sylvester, I need to talk to you." Rachel said sternly and Sue finally looked at her. They looked at each other silently for a few seconds before Sue turned to her and raised the megaphone to her mouth.

"Out of my field, Streisand." Her voice boomed and Rachel groaned at the pain in her ears. Sue turned back around and Rachel's eyebrow twitched in annoyance. Before Sue could say anything, Rachel grabbed the Megaphone out of Sue's hands, making everyone on the field gasp audibly. Sue's eyes widened and she looked at Rachel angrily.

"One, this is not _your_ field, it's the school's. Two, I will not leave because I have something important to tell you." Rachel said with her head high.

"You have five seconds before I tear that hand off." Sue threatened, but Rachel ignored her.

"I'll tell you who did." Rachel said and Sue looked at her oddly.

"Did what?"

"They vandalizing of your office. I'll tell you who did it." Rachel repeated.

"Spit it out then." Sue said quickly.

"Only if you stop torturing the Cheerios from your crazy practice." Sue scowled and walked closer to Rachel.

"You're in no place to make demands." Sue said, and suddenly Rachel broke out in a grin. Santana knew that grin, she had seen it the night before, when Rachel was destroying the school property.

"But I am, because only I know who did it and you want to know what I know." Rachel said and Santana couldn't believe her ears. Sue looked at her thoughtfully for a moment before turning to face the Cheerios.

"Practice is over," She yelled out to them and turned back to Rachel. Despite her words, no one moved. What was happening in front of them was too good and terrifying to miss. "Well?" Sue said, ignoring everyone else.

"It was me." Rachel said and Sue looked at her blankly.

"You? It was _you_?" Rachel nodded, still grinning.

"Yup, I was the one to put slushy in your drawers, to glitterfy Karofsky and his locker, and I was the one to make the pool red." Rachel sounded proud of herself and Sue's face twisted in anger again.

"To Figgins, _now_." Sue grabbed onto Rachel's ear, making the short girl wince in pain.

"Owe!" Rachel whined as Sue dragged her back to the building, and she dropped the megaphone. Rachel saw Santana staring at her wide-eyed and she grinned at her.

Well, it was out now. Now everyone was going to know who had messed with Sue, Karofsky, and the pool. She couldn't hide behind who she was at school anymore. Now, with nothing to lose, she may as well show her badass side in school.

And who knows, maybe Puck was right. Maybe doing that would get her closer to Santana, and maybe, just maybe, she could get the girl of her dreams.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** I was worried I would have waited too long to make a sequel and it would end up being bad, so thank you for the reviews, they really helped me feel better about this fic. Anyway, here's the second chapter and please review, they always help a lot.

* * *

Spending after school in Figgins office was an interesting way to end her day. She sat at the chair, watching Sue yell at him, and him trying to calm her down. Finally, he got Sue to leave and he let out an exhausted breath.

"Miss Berry, I never expected this kind of behavior from you." He said and Rachel shrugged.

"What can I say, I'm full of surprises." Rachel said, shrugging.

"Well, you are going to suffer the consequences," Figgins said. "For everything you did, you're suspended for a week."

"A week, seriously?" Rachel asked and he nodded.

"Yes, and I've already called your parents to pick you up." Rachel scoffed and leaned back in her chair. After a few minutes, her father Hiram walked in to Figgins office.

"Rachel," He said sternly and Rachel sighed. Hiram looked at Figgins and nodded at him. "Thank you, I'll take her home now." Rachel stood up and followed Hiram out to his car. Once they were inside, Hiram sighed.

"Sorry." Rachel said and Hiram shook his head.

"You always got in trouble outside of school, never _in_ school," Hiram said and Rachel looked away. Rachel had a perfect record at school, but outside was an entirely different story. When school was over, her and Puck would go out and cause trouble, which was always the worst during the summer. "What happened?"

"Maybe I was just being me." Rachel said softly, looking out the window.

"You getting in trouble is _not_ you, I don't even know why you do it all the time at home." Hiram snapped and Rachel stayed silent. They finally got home and Rachel went straight to her room. She slammed the door closed and changed out of the argyle and into more comfortable clothes, jeans and a shirt.

She laid down on her bed and stared at the ceiling. She sighed, wondering what she was going to do now that she didn't have school for a week. She closed her eyes, trying to get some sleep at least. In the end, she did, and she woke up to the sound of her phone. She grumbled to herself as she turned onto her side and tried to sleep through it. When it kept ringing, she gave up. Sitting up, she grabbed her phone and answered it.

"Hello?" She asked tiredly.

"Bro, is it true you confessed to Coach Sylvester?" She heard Puck ask over the line and Rachel sighed.

"How did you find out?"

"The Cheerios kept talking about it." Puck said and she nodded, figuring they would. She guessed by the time she went back to school, everyone would know.

"Go figure."

"Wanna come to my place and talk about it?" Puck asked and Rachel looked at the clock. It wasn't that late, and it was around the time Puck got out of football practice.

"Sure." Rachel finally said.

"Cool, I'll pick you up in a few minutes." Puck said before hanging up. Rachel put her phone away and got up. She walked downstairs, and all the lights were off except for the one in her father's study.

She sighed as she looked at it. Despite the fact that he was home the most, he was never away from his work. Even when home, he secluded himself on worked on things outside of his office at work, leaving Rachel alone.

She let out a hug and looked away, not wanting to think about it anymore. She walked outside and sat on the step, waiting for Puck. Finally, she saw his car pull up and she got up. She quickly got inside, grinning at him.

"Hey, bro." Puck said.

"Hello, Noah," Puck grinned and started driving to his house. "So, do you think the entire school knows I did it by now?"

"The Cheerios were talking non-stop about it, then the football team found out, and if Jewfro found out then he probably put it on his blog already." Puck said and Rachel nodded.

"So, basically, the biggest gossips know," Rachel said and Puck nodded. "Great." She muttered and they reached Puck's house. They got out and walked to his room, with Rachel greeting his family along the way. Once they got inside, she jumped onto his bed.

"So why did you confess, you never do that." Puck said, laying down on the bed next to her.

"When I went to talk to Santana again, I saw how hard Sylvester was working them, because of _me_," Rachel said sadly. "So I told her if she left Santana and the Cheerios alone, I'd tell her who did it and when she did what I wanted, I confessed."

"Dude," He said. "You must really like her if you took the blame for everything."

"I told you, I love her," Rachel said softly. "But she'll never love me back," Suddenly, she felt a punch on her shoulder. "Owe, what was that for?" She asked, rubbing her arm.

"You're giving up on her and you haven't even tried to get with her yet. So don't give up yet, she hasn't seen the _real _you, the you outside of school." Puck said.

"Like that would make a difference." Rachel mumbled and Puck sighed.

"You just gotta have confidence in yourself, like when we sneak out and totally ruin shit." Puck said and Rachel laughed.

"Those nights are pretty awesome." Rachel said and Puck grinned.

"Hell yeah they are."

* * *

Since Rachel was suspended for a week, she had nothing to do. Puck lent her some games and magazines and she spent her days playing video games while Puck was at school. The only times she actually left her room was when Puck's football practice was over and she would hang out at his house.

Finally, after a week, it was the morning of the day she went back to school, and she was sleeping in bed when her phone went off. She let out a groan and slowly grabbed it.

"Hello?" She said groggily, still not fully awake.

"Hey bro, open your door," She hard Puck say and she slowly sat up. She hung up the phone and walked to her front door, opening it to show Puck on the side, grinning. "Morning."

"Not that I'm happy to see you, but what are you doing here so early?" Rachel asked and Puck put his hand on his heart.

"Ouch, that hurts." Puck said and Rachel shook her head, laughing lightly. She walked back inside and Puck followed her in, and the two walked to her bedroom. Once inside, Puck went to her dresser and started going through her clothes.

"What are you doing?" Rachel asked.

"I figured since everyone knows it's you now, might as well go through with my plan." Puck said.

"To show how badass I am?"

"Yup," Puck said, and turned around and threw clothes in Rachel's face. "That means you wear you're cool clothes, not your lame ass ones." Rachel pulled the clothes off her face and looked at them.

"Might as well." She walked to the bathroom and changed into ripped jeans, a shirt, and a leather jacket. She walked out and Puck looked at her, grinning.

"Hot." He said and Rachel rolled her eyes but smiled anyway.

"Thank you." The rest of the morning was spent with Puck and Rachel putting all of Rachel's old clothes into a bag and throwing it out. When it was time to go, Puck drove the both of them to school and when he parked Rachel took in a deep breath.

"You okay?" Puck asked and Rachel nodded.

"Just nervous, no one but you have seen me like this." Rachel said, motioning to her body.

"I know, it sucks no one knows how hot you look in that," Puck said, looking her up and down. Rachel playfully punched him and he laughed. "Sorry, but seriously, you'll be fine and I got your back."

"I know you do, and I got yours." Rachel said with a smile and Puck raised his fist in the air. Rachel grinned and bumped her fist with his before getting out of the car.

Puck followed her out and he walked next to her. As they got closer to the school, he draped his arm over her shoulder. He gave her a comforting squeeze and Rachel held her head high, ready to take whatever the student body was going to throw at her.

Together, they walked through the doors and Rachel grinned as she saw all the students stop and stare at her, shock clearly on their faces. Puck chuckled and turned to her.

"Look at their faces, it's priceless." He said and Rachel turned to him.

"Just imagine Glee Club." Puck's grin widened and for once in Rachel's life, everyone jumped out of her way as she walked down the hall. She didn't know if it was because of the shock, or because they knew she had messed with Sue and lived, but it was something she never thought would happen to her. They finally reached her locker, and as she was going through it, she heard a voice behind her.

"Hey, Berry," Rachel turned around to see two Cheerios in front of her. She had known them, they were seniors and not that far down from Santana on the pyramid. The Cheerios looked up and down Rachel's body. "What's with the clothes, hobbit."

"Yeah," The other Cheerio said. "You're still a loser in those clothes."

"She's way more badass than you." Puck said harshly and the Cheerios glared at him before looking back at Rachel.

"Is it true? That you did all those things to Coach's office?" The first Cheerio asked and Rachel nodded.

"You were there, so you know it's true." Rachel said and the Cheerio rolled her eyes.

"I meant, you sure you didn't cover for someone else?" She said, eyeing Puck. Rachel laughed, making the Cheerio look back at her.

"Why would I do that? Well, to help a friend I would, but that time it was _all_ me, plus," Rachel walked closer to the Cheerio, making her take a step back. "It's more fun when you're actually the one who did it when you confess." She turned back around and closed her locker before walking away from the Cheerios.

* * *

As the day went by, she started getting a headache. It seemed like all the Cheerios were going up to her, asking if it was really her who did it and that she wasn't covering for someone else. On top of that, it seemed like the entire student body was checking her out, which she didn't really mind, but Jacob Ben Israel as stalking her more than ever and constantly trying to interview her for his blog.

In classes, even the teachers did a double take and stared at her for a few moments before starting class. Not only that, but it also seem that all the students around her were talking about her, not even bother to hide it.

Still, it seemed like the one student who wasn't constantly watching or talking about her was Santana. Even in the classes Rachel shared with her, Santana purposely avoided looking in her direction. On the other hand, Brittany and Quinn, who had seen her in the hall, stared at her.

Rachel didn't care about what anyone thought about her, or that anyone was staring at her, but she felt a little hurt that Santana didn't show an inkling of interest in her new look. She went through the day, defeated by the lack of response from Santana, to the end of the day. After school she was at her locker, and the hallway her locker was in was empty, when her locker door was suddenly slammed closed.

"What the hell?" Rachel asked and turned around and saw Karofsky in front of her.

"So it was _you_ that put that glitter in my locker?" He asked and Rachel shrugged.

"Yeah, it was me." Rachel said in a bored tone and he grabbed her jacket, lifting her up towards him.

"At least sound fucking sorry." He said and Rachel laughed.

"Why? I'm clearly _not_ sorry." Karofksy became angrier and he tightened his grip on her jacket.

"You have no idea who you're messing with, do you?" He asked and Rachel grinned.

"Oh, I do," She said. "I just don't care." Karofsky growled and slammed Rachel back against the locker roughly, and she winced at the impact.

"You'll fucking pay for this."

"What are you going to do, punch me?" Rachel asked and Karofsky grinned.

"Maybe I will." He said and started to raise his fist. Rachel stood up straight, ready to dodge it.

"Hey!" The two paused and looked towards the voice. Down the hall, walking up to them, was Santana. Once she reached them, she glared at Karofsky. "Back off." Karofsky looked at her and scowled.

"Whatever," He said and dropped his fist. "This isn't over." He said, looking at Rachel, before walking away. Once he turned the corner, Santana looked over at Rahcel.

"You okay?" She asked, and looked up and down Rachel's body. "That's different." She said quietly and Rachel blushed a little at the fact the she was finally noticed by Santana.

"Thank you, though I would have handled that fine by myself." Rachel said and Santana raised an eyebrow at her.

"Oh, really?" She asked and Rachel grinned.

"Really," Rachel said. She pushed herself off the lockers and walked to Santana, getting closer than Santana would have liked. "In case you haven't noticed," Rachel's said softly as she stared up at Santana. "There are a lot of things you don't know about me." Rachel winked at Santana and pulled away. With a grin, she turned around and walked away, leaving Santana in the hallway, more confused than ever.

* * *

Puck sat in the choir room, listening to everyone around him as they waited for Mr. Schuester to come in.

"Rachel Berry, _our_ Rachel Berry, dressed like _that_?" Kurt said after listening to Mike tell everyone about Rachel's new clothes.

"I can't be the only one that saw her in the hall today, am I?" Mike asked, looking at Tina who shrugged.

"Me and Brittany saw her," Quinn said from her seat next to Brittany. "It was pretty weird to see her dressed like that."

"Yeah, and you can ask Puck, I saw them walking together." Mike said and everyone turned to Puck. He sighed and stood up and faced them.

"He's right," Puck said and everyone started talking at once. "Dudes, seriously," Said loudly and everyone became quiet again. "It's nothing new, she's always been like this."

"Are we talking about the same Rachel Berry?" Kurt asked and half of the club that didn't see Rachel nodded.

"I totally am, she's just never showed you guys the real her." Puck said.

"How would you know?" Finn said angrily. "I know her more than you." Puck started laughing, making Finn angrier. Even though he knew no one believed it, he was the one that knew Rachel the best. Out of everyone, Finn was the one that knew the least about Rachel. Before anyone could say anything else, Mr. Schuester came in.

"Alright guys, let's get to work," He stopped suddenly and looked around. "Where's Rachel, I thought she came back today."

"Oh, she's here, just not here." Puck said, pointing at the floor.

"Oh god, first she's suspended, and now she's not coming to Glee, something horrible must have happened to her." Kurt said, wide eyed.

"I doubt it's anything serious." Quinn said.

"Yeah, she's probably just late." Blain said. Kurt opened his mouth to say something, but was cut off by a familiar voice.

"Sorry I'm late," Rachel said, waving at everyone with again on her face and Santana walking behind her. She stopped in the middle of the room and looked at the confused and shocked looks from some of the members of Glee club. "What?"

"Told you." Mike said to Kurt.

"It's nothing, they're just getting over their shock of the badass you." Puck said with a grin.

"Oh, okay." Rachel shrugged and sat down next to Puck, who bumped fists with her.

"What happened to you?" Kurt asked and Rachel turned around in her seat.

"Nothing happened, I've always dressed like this, just not at school," Rachel said before turning around and looking at Puck. "By the way, did they get the food coloring out of the pool?"

"Yup." Puck said and Rachel pouted.

"Awe, we had so much fun doing that," She looked over at Santana for a second, who was sitting next to Quinn and looking at the ground, before looking back at Puck. "Oh well, it was fun while it lasted."

"Um, guys," Mr. Schuester said, making everyone look at him. "So, Rachel, um, welcome back," He said warily, still looking at Rachel confused from her new look. "Just…don't get into trouble again," Rachel shrugged at him, knowing now that she wasn't hiding behind the mask she put up at school, she couldn't promise anything. "Let's get to work, guys."

For the most part, nothing got done. Everyone was either too busy staring at Rachel or kept asking her questions, especially Kurt and Mercedes. By the time it was over, Rachel practically ran out of the room. She headed down the hall and hid in the library for a few minutes before going back to her locker. When she did, she saw Santana standing by it and looking down at the ground, and she walked over to her, grinning.

"Santana, are you here for another night with me?" Santana looked up at her and scowled.

"Oh please, I don't like you enough to be anywhere with you." Santana said and Rachel's grinned widened.

"Really? Because I didn't get that impression when you were with me that night I vandalized the school, and you're here by my locker now." Rachel said.

"Listen, hobbit, that night I don't know what I was thinking but," Santana took a threatening step towards Rachel, but the smaller girl didn't back down. "Don't expect me to do something like that again. Oh, and don't talk to me again, either." Santana walked past Rachel, pushing her shoulder harshly.

Rachel frowned and looked back at Santana's retreating form. She let out a sigh and walked out of the school. She walked home and walked to the kitchen, pulling out the beer she hid in the back and walked up to her room.

* * *

Puck was done with football practice and was sitting in his car relaxing when he felt his phone go off. He quickly dug into his pocket and pulled it out.

"Hello?" He asked and he heard Rachel on the other side.

"Noah!" She slurred out his name and he frowned.

"Bro, you okay?" He asked and he heard Rachel giggle.

"Of course, Noah, I'm great! You're idea was great too, by the way! Noah, you're just great." She was slurring her words badly and he could tell she was drinking.

"Bro, you're drunk." He sighed.

"No," Rachel said, but couldn't help but giggle again. "Maybe. Noah, stay with me!"

"Where are you?"

"My room." Puck sighed, at least she wasn't causing trouble in public.

"Hold on, I'm on my way." He said as he started his car. He hung up and quickly headed over to her house. Once he made it, he parked the car and instead of going through the front door, he walked to the backyard. He climbed her tree and stopped just in front of her window and looked inside. She was sitting on her bed, looking at a page on the yearbook.

He tapped on the window and her head shot up. She grinned at him and got out of bed. She stumbled to the window, and opened it to let Puck in. After he climbed inside, he closed the window and led her to the bed.

"Hey, what's wrong?" He asked. Rachel only ever really got drunk when she and Puck had nothing to do, or if she was dealing with something.

"Noah," Rachel said. "She doesn't love me." Puck looked over at the open yearbook, and sighed when he saw the page she was turned on. It was of the first year they were at Glee, and they hadn't won first place at nationals, but at least they had a trophy. They were all around it, and Puck saw Santana in her Cheerio outfit and next to her was Rachel with a wide smile. He looked down at their arms, to their joined hands in the picture.

He closed the book, ignoring Rachel's whimpers at not seeing Santana's face anymore. He put it onto her desk and carefully laid Rachel down.

"Don't give up on her yet." Puck said as he moved the covers on top of her.

"But she told me to forget about the bro's night, and that we weren't going to talk, and-"

"Hey, it's gonna be okay." Puck said, cutting her off from her rant because, honestly, she was starting to slur her words more and he could see she was getting more tired.

"Not," Rachel said and yawned. "I wanna talk, and smell. She smells like vanilla," Rachel said as her eyes started to close. "I like vanilla. I could be the berry on top of vanilla…" Puck watched as Rachel fell asleep and his lips quirked upward at her words.

"Vanilla, huh?" He said to himself. He shook his head and tucked Rachel in before getting up and walking to her window. He looked back and smiled sadly. "Don't worry, bro, you'll get your girl, don't worry." He whispered before climbing out of her window and to his own house.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: **This is a long over due update, I've just been so busy with real life and other fics I've been writing and planning to post someday. Hopefully the next chapter won't be too long, and in the meantime, here's this one.

* * *

Rachel walked into school, her head throbbing with the hangover she was experiencing. As she walked to her locker, she saw the football team and Cheerios still checking her out and she wondered for how long that was going to happen. Ignoring them, she looked for Santana and finally found the girl at her locker with Brittany and Quinn.

As she saw them, she couldn't help but smile. She was glad that despite the fact that Quinn wasn't a Cheerio, she still had Santana and Brittany as friends. Rachel thought she deserved it. With a grin she walked to where they were and Brittany saw her first and smiled brightly.

"Rachel!" Brittany said, bringing the smaller girl in for a hug. Rachel let out a small laugh as she hugged Brittany as best as she could. Finally, the tall blond let her go and Rachel smiled at Quinn who gave her a small smile back. "A lot of people are talking about you." Brittany said and Rachel smiled.

"What things are they saying?" Rachel asked. She was curious, but she didn't really care too much for it. Besides, they couldn't be saying anything worse than Manhands or Rupual anymore. At least she hoped they didn't.

"That you're really hot now," Brittany said cheerfully and reached out to play with the collar of Rachel's leather jacket. "I like you're jacket."

"Thanks, I can let you borrow it if you want." Rachel said and Brittany shook her head.

"No, it looks hot on you." Brittany said as she looked at Rachel up and down.

"Hey," Quinn said, looking at Rachel. "Are you really okay with everyone talking about you?" Rachel looked at Quinn and shrugged.

"People have always talked about me, and this can't possibly be worse than what they sued to say before." Rachel said softly and Quinn looked down guiltily, knowing what they used to say. What _she_ used to say.

"It's fine," Rachel said, shrugging and she looked at Santana, who hadn't even turned around. Brittany and Quinn followed her gaze and Brittany frowned.

"San, are you still mad at Rachel?" Brittany asked and Santana scoffed in response. She slammed her locker closed and turned around, slamming into Rachel's shoulder as she walked away. Rachel frowned and looked at Santana's retreating form, apparently Santana had meant was she had said earlier.

"Is Santana still mad?" Quinn asked, confused. "I get that she might be annoyed, Coach was torture when she was pissed, but the silent treatment?"

"Maybe she'll get over it soon," Brittany said, watching Santana walk away. "She can't be mad forever, right?" She looked at Quinn, as if looking for confirmation. Quinn nodded at her and Brittany looked back at Rachel. "See?"

"Thanks, guys," Rachel said, smiling at the both of them. As she did so, she saw Puck down the hall and she waved at Quinn and Santana. "I'll see you guys later." With that she headed down the hall, where Puck was leaning against the lockers texting.

"Hey," Rachel said, skipping up to him. Puck looked up from the phone and grinned at her.

"Sup bro, how's things going?" He asked and Rachel's face fell.

"Santana refuses to talk to me." Puck frowned and put an arm around Rachel's shoulder.

"Don't worry, you'll get your girl, don't vie up," Rachel gave him a small smile and Puck gave her a small grin. "I got an idea, let's have a party."

"A party?" Rachel asked, frowning. Because of her status as the school's biggest loser, she had never gone to one, and she wasn't sure if the school would let her go to one now. She opened her mouth to decline, but Puck cut her off.

"And you're totally going," He said and Rachel grinned. "C'mon, it's gonna be fun and besides," He leaned in closer so only she could hear him. "I'm not gonna let anyone mess with you. I got your back."

"Thanks, Noah," Rachel said, smiling at him. "You're the best."

"Hell yeah I am." Puck said loudly and Rachel laughed. When the bell rang they each went to their classes and Rachel tried to keep to herself or only to everyone from Glee club, but all of the attention she got from the rest of the student body was making that difficult.

Rachel found the new attention suffocating. She could handle the looks, that she was used to, but people trying and _wanting_ to know her more was something new to her. A part of her was afraid that this was another elaborate prank to embarrass her. Luckily in the classes she had with Puck, he gave them a glare that made everyone back off and she finally got some peace.

"Don't worry," Puck had said. "People will leave you alone after a few days." Rachel hoped they would and she could finally get some peace and quiet again. It was annoying having everyone surround her and ask her questions, but at least it wasn't so bad. At least they weren't insulting and slushying her.

No, it wasn't so bad, but that was ruined when Jacob Ben Israel had walked up to her with his microphone and camera man. She had been at her locker when she heard his voice and she closed her eyes and groaned in annoyance.

"Rachel Berry," She closed her locker and turned to face him, and he gave her that creepy smile of his. "You look _very_ nice." He said, looking her up and down.

"Whatever." She scowled and quickly walked past him. Unfortunately, he was determined to interview her and he followed her down the hall.

"Is there a reason for your new looks?" He questioned and Rachel scoffed before stopping again and turning around to face him.

"No," She answered. "I've always dressed like this outside of school."

"Really?" He asked, eyes wide. "Why in school now?"

"Because." She said, and turned around and started walking away. She couldn't tell him the reason why was because of Santana, she couldn't tell anyone. Then everyone would know how she felt about her and that would ruin her more than anything. If that happened, she knew she had no chance with Santana, ever. Jacob didn't give up and he rushed after her and reached for her hand once he got close enough. Rachel gasped and whipped her hand away, not liking the idea of _him_ touching her.

"I need more questions." He said quickly and she turned around and glared at him.

"I'm done with your questions." She hissed and whipped back around.

"Just one more…" He pleaded and touched her again on the lower back, dangerously close to her butt. The second she felt his fingers on her, she turned back around and shoved him backwards. He fell back in surprise, onto his camera man, and they both crashed to the floor

The second they hit the floor and the camera made a breaking sound everyone in the hallway turned to them. Within seconds the hall erupted in laughter and Jacob was looking up at Rachel with wide eyes. Rachel knew those eyes, they were the same eyes the students had when they looked at the jocks in fear.

They thought that he was afraid of her just like he was afraid of the bullies in the school disturbed her more than anything. He quickly scrambled off the floor and dragged his camera man up before grabbing the camera and microphone and running down the hall.

"Good job with the freak, Berry." Rachel looked over at the Cheerio that spoke. She was with some football players and all of them were holding a look of approval on their face. Rachel quickly walked down the hall, away from them.

Sure, she wanted to be herself, but she didn't want _this_. She didn't want to be like _them_, just another bully like Karofsky. That was the one thing she wasn't. With a sigh, she quickly headed to class, all the while hearing some of the students giving her compliments on what she had done.

* * *

"Hey, bro." Rachel opened her eyes and looked up to see Puck walking over to her. It was the middle of lunch and she was laying down on the outdoor steps with her eyes closed. It seemed that was the only way to keep people away and all she could think of was the look Jacob gave her. She sat up and Puck sat down next to her. As he leaned back he silently looked at her and she sighed.

"What?" Rachel finally asked after a few moments of silence. Puck sat up straighter and leaned towards her.

"What's wrong?" He asked and Rachel raised an eyebrow.

"Nothing's wrong." Puck scoffed at her words.

"If nothing was wrong you'd be all over the place, not over here sulking." Rachel sighed and looked down.

"Am I really that easy to read?" She asked and Puck grinned.

"Nah, just to me." Rachel looked at him and grinned back. Puck truly was the only one that knew what she was thinking about.

"It's about what happened with Jewfro," Rachel started, her grin fading. "After I accidentally knocked him down, the way he looked at me, it made me feel like… Karofsky or Azimio."

"You're nothing like those dudes, you know why?" Rachel shrugged at his words and he brought an arm around her shoulder. "Cuz you're too nice to hurt people the way they do, you're better than that." Rachel looked at him and smiled.

"You're being an awesome bro today, did you know that?" She said with a smile and Puck shrugged.

"Just being a bro." Rachel laughed and messed with his Mohawk and he stuck his tongue out at her.

The rest of the school day went by smoothly, and people were still talking about Rachel's incident with Jacob, which Rachel did her best to ignore. It wasn't exactly one of her proudest moments ever, but at least Puck had helped and made her feel a little better about the whole incident.

Intent on making Santana at least notice her, once school was over she walked to the football field. She sat down on the bottom of the bleachers and leaned back, waiting. Finally, Rachel saw the cheerios coming out and Rachel couldn't help but grin when Santana looked at her in surprise. She raised her hand, giving Santana a small wave.

With a huff, Santana looked away. As she did so, she saw some of the cheerios _gazing_ at Rachel and some even give a subtle wave. She didn't understand, it was the same Rachel Berry they used to torment sitting on the bleachers, she just dressed differently.

But, as she thought about it, she knew it wasn't true. She had seen Rachel behind the mask she had set in school and saw someone completely different. A part of her was curious and wanted to get to know Rachel and see what the girl was actually like.

She suddenly shook her head, as if that would get the thoughts out of her head. That was _Rachel_ and she made it clear that she didn't want to talk to her again.

* * *

Rachel didn't give up, so she sat at the bleachers watching Santana and the other Cheerios practice. She looked over at the football team and saw Puck grinning at her. She gave him a grin in return and he turned his attention back to practice.

After a few more minutes Sue had let the cheerios take a break and they made their way to the bleachers. Rachel looked up and saw Brittany in front of the rest, running to her. Rachel quickly sat up and braced herself just in time as Brittany jumped into her lap.

"Hey Rachel." Brittany greeted, wrapping her arms around Rachel's shoulders.

"Hey, Brittany," Rachel said, grinning. At least Brittany was talking to her. "How's practice?" Brittany shrugged and brought her head down on Rachel's shoulder, cuddling on her lap. Rachel looked over at Santana and caught her staring.

"Do you want to sit on my lap too, Santana?" Rachel asked and Santana's cheeks flushed at the words, making Rachel smirk.

"You're really comfy, Rachel." Brittany said from her place on Rachel's lap.

"Thank you. I'm like Santa, but better looking." Rachel said and Santana rolled her eyes.

"You're way hotter." Brittany said and Rachel grinned. She looked at the other cheerios and was surprised to see some of them with the same blush that was on Santana's face. The rest of the break was spent with Brittany on Rachel's lap and Santana tried to ignore Rachel the entire time.

Soon break was over and they started practicing again. To Santana's annoyance, when she looked over in the middle of practice, she saw that Rachel was still sitting on the bleachers watching them. She looked away and concentrated on practicing the performance and once it was done and she headed back to the bleachers, she saw Puck talking with Rachel on the bleachers. He still had the football uniform on and was sweating and he looked up with a grin as the cheerios headed back to the bleachers.

"Hey girls," He said and winked at the younger ones on the team. "Guess what, I got another party this Friday."

"Awesome." One of the Cheerios said and the rest agreed and started talking about it. Puck grinned and pointed at Rachel.

"Rachel's gonna be there too," And if some of the cheerios weren't excited enough already, they were now, much to Rachel's surprise and Puck's amusement. "Well, I'll see you later." Puck said at Rachel and got up and walked to the locker room.

"So," One of the cheerios started nervously once he was gone and Rachel looked over at her, noticing it was a freshman cheerio and probably going to be her first party. "You're going?" Rachel blinked and looked around, realizing most seemed anxious for her answer.

"Yeah," She said and looked at Santana, who was staring at her. She broke out in a grin again and looked back at the cheerio. "Looks like I am." She gave them all a cheeky grin and watched as the younger cheerios smiled shyly and blushed at her smile.

Yes, she was definitely going to that party.


End file.
